There are not a lot of actors who
not only live long lives but also remain active in their careers right up until
the end. One of these decades-long luminaries is Max von Sydow. Born in Sweden
in 1929, he built a solid foundation for a lifelong career in acting, first on
the stage and then in film and television. Even better, while already made legendary
by roles in his early career, von Sydow was able to keep himself relevant by
portraying key roles in more recent productions. Thus, when he passed away this
past Sunday, a decade short of a full century, the Swedish acting star was
greatly mourned.
CBS News tells us that Max von Sydow was announced by his agent to
have died last March 8 at the ripe age of 90. While born in Sweden, the veteran
actor was a citizen of France since 2002, and it was at his home there that he
passed on, according to Jean Diamond and Max’s widow, Catherine von Sydow. He
had left behind quite the lengthy filmography of roles with his first onscreen
work in a 1949 movie, which is not bad for somebody who had once described
himself to be a “shy boy.”
But despite his own descriptor,
von Sydow has seen himself become part of cinema legend, thanks to his role in
the 1957 Swedish movie “The Seventh Seal” directed by longtime collaborator
Ingmar Bergman, where he plays a knight who plays chess with Death to spare
himself from dying in the Black Plague. Max’s other notable big-screen roles
include Jesus in “The Greatest Story Ever Told” (1965), Father Merrin in “The
Exorcist” (1973), and Ming the Merciless in “Flash Gordon” (1980).
Even in the 21st
Century Max von Sydow was able to remain a household name. In 2011 he provided
his voice talents in the hit videogame “Elder Scrolls: Skyrim.” He had a guest
voice role in “The Simpsons” (2014) and became part of the “Star Wars”
franchise in 2015’s “The Force Awakens” as Lor Sar Tekka. Finally in 2016 Max portrayed
a memorable season 6 character the Three-Eyed Raven, in HBO series “Game of
Thrones.” Such a variety of roles played into how von Sydow described his
acting style as stated in interview: "What I as an actor look for is a
variety of parts. It is very boring to be stuck in more or less one type of
character."
0 comments:
Post a Comment